Gold prices jumped this week to within grasp of record highs above US$1,000 per ounce on the back of a weak dollar and mounting economic optimism, while oil prices also edged higher.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold hit US$1,024.28 an ounce on Thursday — the best level since March last year when it struck a record US$1,032.70.
“Gold continued its rally above the closely-watched US$1,000 level ... and appears to be firmly on course to challenge its all time peak,” ODL Securities analysts said in a research note.
Gold is being pushed up by two main trends — a fall in the value of the US currency as a result of rising economic confidence among some investors, and a desire among other investors to find a safe haven in still troubled waters.
Gold is also seen as a safe bet for investors to guard against inflation, which is of growing concern following trillions of dollars in borrowing by governments and unorthodox measures including the printing of new money.
In the wake of gold, silver hit a 13-month high of US$17.66 an ounce.
By late on Friday on the London Bullion Market, gold was higher at US$1,012 an ounce from US$1,008.25 a week earlier.
Silver climbed to US$17.11 an ounce from US$16.89.
OIL: Analysts said that a sharper-than-expected drop in US crude stockpiles was seen as an indication that demand was improving in the world’s biggest energy user.
US crude stocks dropped 4.7 million barrels in the week to Sept. 11, beating analyst forecasts for an average decline of 2.5 million barrels.
The sharper-than-expected drop was seen as an indication that US oil demand was improving but some analysts cautioned that stockpiles remained huge and prices had not touched June highs.
The global economic downturn had sapped demand for energy, dragging crude prices from record highs of above US$147 in July last year to US$32.40 in December. They have since won back some ground to stand close to US$70.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Maize and soya prices climbed while wheat prices dipped as traders tracked prevailing weather conditions in key producing countries.
By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, maize for delivery in December rose to US$3.25 a bushel from US$3.19 a week earlier.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique